<\/p>\n
A coin featuring the late Queen Elizabeth II is on display for sale at a souvenirs shop in London, on April 17, 2026.<\/p>\n
Kin Cheung\/AP<\/p>\n
Bobblehead of late Queen Elizabeth II is on display for sale at a souvenirs shop in London, on April 17, 2026.<\/p>\n
Kin Cheung\/AP<\/p>\n
A plate with photos of late Queen Elizabeth II is on display for sale at a souvenirs shop in London, on April 17, 2026.<\/p>\n
Kin Cheung\/AP<\/p>\n
Mugs with photos of late Queen Elizabeth II are on display for sale at a souvenirs shop in London, on April 17, 2026.<\/p>\n
Kin Cheung\/AP<\/p>\n
Tea towel with photo of late Queen Elizabeth II is on display for sale at a souvenirs shop in London, on April 17, 2026.<\/p>\n
Kin Cheung\/AP<\/p>\n
LONDON (AP) \u2014 Queen Elizabeth II lives on at the Cool Britannia gift shop across the road from Buckingham Palace.<\/p>\n
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Four years after the queen\u2019s death, the shop is doing a brisk business in mugs, tea towels and key rings bearing the likeness of Britain\u2019s longest-reigning monarch as the nation marks the centenary of her birth on Tuesday. Items featuring her son King Charles III? Well, not so much.<\/p>\n
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\u201cWe still sell more than the king any day,\u2019\u2019 said Ismail Ibrahim, the store\u2019s manager.<\/p>\n
The late queen\u2019s memory looms over the monarchy after a 70-year reign that saw her evolve from the glamorous young sovereign who cheered Britain during the gloomy post-war years to the beloved national grandmother who rallied the country during the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n
Still \u2018the queen\u2019<\/p>\n
When she died in September 2022, Elizabeth was the only monarch most Britons had ever known. Even now, mention of \u201cthe queen\u201d is more likely to evoke thoughts of Elizabeth than of Queen Camilla, Charles’ wife.<\/p>\n
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But the passage of time has also tarnished the late queen\u2019s legacy. While she is celebrated as a symbol of tradition and continuity who helped unite Britain as the end of empire, economic struggles and mass migration changed the nation\u2019s perception of itself, revelations about the former Prince Andrew\u2019s links to the sex offender Jeffrey Epstein have raised questions about why she let the problem fester for years.<\/p>\n
\u201cDespite her absence, Elizabeth II remains this key presence whenever we think about the monarchy,\u2019\u2019 Ed Owens, author of \u201cAfter Elizabeth: Can the Monarchy Save Itself?\u2019\u2019 told The Associated Press.<\/p>\n
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\u201cShe\u2019s certainly the most significant figure in the history of the institution in the last 100 years and, I think, therefore deserves probably the attention that\u2019s going to be focused on her in connection with what would have been her 100th birthday.\u201d<\/p>\n
The festivities include a Buckingham Palace reception where Charles will congratulate centenarians who share the late monarch’s birthday, and the dedication of a memorial garden at Regent’s Park in central London. An exhibit of the queen’s fashions is already underway.<\/p>\n
An unexpected reign<\/p>\n
Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor wasn\u2019t meant to wear the crown. Born on April 21, 1926, she started her long life not in a castle but at 17 Bruton St., a townhouse in London\u2019s Mayfair district.<\/p>\n
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As the elder daughter of King George V\u2019s second son, Elizabeth was expected to live the life of a minor royal. Dogs and horses, a country house, a suitable match \u2014 a comfortable but somewhat anonymous life \u2014 seemed her future.<\/p>\n
But destiny intervened. A decade after Elizabeth\u2019s birth, her uncle King Edward VIII abdicated to marry the American divorcee Wallis Simpson. Elizabeth\u2019s father became King George VI, thrusting the young princess into the spotlight as heir to throne.<\/p>\n
Elizabeth became queen the day her father died on Feb. 6, 1952. Just 25, she heard the news in Kenya and hurried home to take up her duties.<\/p>\n
Global ambassador<\/p>\n
For decades, she presided over the annual opening of Parliament in crown and ermine robe, hosted banquets for visiting leaders at Buckingham Palace and made thousands of appearances across the U.K., often wearing brightly colored suits to make sure the people could catch a glimpse of their queen.<\/p>\n
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She also became a global ambassador for brand Britain, making more than 200 overseas trips that helped bolster ties with one-time colonies from India to Tanzania, former enemies Germany and Japan and long-time friends such as the United States.<\/p>\n
Late in life, the queen became an internet star when she and James Bond star Daniel Craig used moviemaking sleight of hand to parachute into the opening ceremony of the 2012 London Olympics and teamed up with Paddington Bear to celebrate her 70 years on the throne<\/p>\n
In a world of relentless change, she moved with the times \u2014 applauding the nation\u2019s successes and consoling Britons during difficult times, while remaining above the fray of politics, Robert Hardman, author of \u201cElizabeth II: In private. In public. The Inside Story,\u2019\u2019 told the AP.<\/p>\n
Scandal’s shadow<\/p>\n
But those accomplishments make her failure to end the scandal surrounding her second son even more glaring.<\/p>\n
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Despite concerns about his boorish behavior, questionable business dealings and unsavory friends, Andrew spent 10 years as Britain\u2019s special envoy for international trade and remained a prince of the realm until the details of his relationship with Epstein were revealed last year. In an effort to shield the monarchy from the continuing fallout, Charles finally stripped his younger brother of his princely title. He is now known simply as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was problematic and that gave her cause for worry,\u2019\u2019 Hardman said. \u201cBut I do think people let him have an easy ride because they thought if they came down hard on him, they might somehow upset the queen. Now that\u2019s partly attributable to her, but partly attributable to others.\u201d<\/p>\n
Besides, her \u201cgreat achievements\u2019\u2019 far outweighed any errors, Hardman said.<\/p>\n
Elizabeth took the throne as a young woman with two small children at a time before jet travel existed and no one had even thought of going to the moon, then remained a constant presence in British public life across generations.<\/p>\n
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\u201cShe just reigned through this vast span of the ages and was as authoritative and loved and respected at the end as she was at the beginning,\u201d Hardman said. \u201cAnd she was working till the very end, \u2018til her last day.\u201d<\/p>\n
As historians debate the queen\u2019s legacy, members of the public are making their own judgements.<\/p>\n
Take Sylvie Deneux, and her daughter Clara, who stopped by Cool Britannia during a visit to London from their home in Lille, France.<\/p>\n
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They praised the late monarch for her elegance and described her as an icon. But when asked about Mountbatten-Windsor, Sylvie Deneux, 49, paused and looked at her daughter. Failing to quickly quash the scandal was a mistake, she said. But Deneux could still muster sympathy for Elizabeth, because she made those decisions as a mother, not as a queen.<\/p>\n
\u201cCan we blame her?\u2019\u2019 she asked. \u201cI\u2019m not sure.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A coin featuring the late Queen Elizabeth II is on display for sale at a souvenirs shop in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":204351,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[15345,75547,80839,80840,6769,5636,4043,9,24,63,833,834,38762,38761,829,2337,76734,2338,1433,1312,80838,122,124,123,75249,80841,5878,8502],"class_list":{"0":"post-204350","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-queens","8":"tag-andrew-mountbatten-windsor","9":"tag-daniel-craig","10":"tag-ed-owens","11":"tag-ismail-ibrahim","12":"tag-jeffrey-epstein","13":"tag-king-charles-iii","14":"tag-london","15":"tag-new-york","16":"tag-new-york-city","17":"tag-nyc","18":"tag-package-100024-ap-online","19":"tag-package-100373-mc-complete-state-national","20":"tag-package-100923-member-choice-lifestyles-option","21":"tag-product-30594-lifestyles-formerly-weekly-features","22":"tag-product-30598-ap-national-news-report-a-wire","23":"tag-product-31388-premium-entertainment","24":"tag-product-32502-ap-online-europe-news","25":"tag-product-33328-ap-premium-entertainment-other","26":"tag-queen-camilla","27":"tag-queen-elizabeth-ii","28":"tag-queen-elizabeth-ii-centenary-king-charles-iii","29":"tag-queens","30":"tag-queens-headlines","31":"tag-queens-news","32":"tag-robert-hardman","33":"tag-sylvie-deneux","34":"tag-united-kingdom","35":"tag-wallis-simpson"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204350","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=204350"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204350\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/204351"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=204350"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=204350"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=204350"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}